U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Alabama’s Congressional Maps In Allen V. Milligan Decision

Members of the public line up for going into the U.S. Supreme Court to listen to oral argument on October 4, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court heard oral argument of the Merrill v. Milligan case that challenge whether the new congressional map of Alabama violates the Voting Rights Act. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On June 8, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Alabama’s congressional redistricting plan adopted in November 2021 and used in the state’s 2022 elections violated the Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn to include a second majority-black district.

In November 2021, a group of Alabama voters and organizations sued Secretary of State John Merrill (R) and the House and Senate redistricting chairmen, Rep. Chris Pringle (R) and Sen. Jim McClendon (R). Plaintiffs alleged the congressional map unfairly distributed Black voters. The plaintiffs asked the lower court to invalidate the enacted congressional map and order a new map with instructions to include a second majority-Black district.